As we've been telling you, Antxon (paraplegic, Navarra) is on a 3,022-kilometre journey across Europe with a handbike and wheelchair, travelling from Copenhagen to San Sebastian to document issues associated with biodiversity. This project is part of the activities of San Sebastian 2016, European Capital of Culture. Through the Biziz travelling embassy, five groups with different themes are crossing Europe. Antxon's route, which focuses on biodiversity, is one of them. They have already successfully completed the first half of their journey and we're here to tell you about it.
«Antxon is covering the 3,022 km between Copenhagen and San Sebastian with his BATEC RAPID handbike.»
Antxon and his fellow adventurers, biologists Begoña and Aitor, landed in Copenhagen (Denmark) to prepare to set off on their route for biodiversity. There they found cities that are very environmentally conscious. What surprised them the most was to see that bicycles are the main means of transport people use every day, regardless of their age, which considerably reduces CO2 emissions. Some of the activities they participated in, and recorded in their journey blog, included a visit to Solrød Biogas, a plant that recycles organic material; and discovering the Saxenhøj farm school, where organic products are made as social work and people with disabilities visit every day to learn about horticulture and livestock farming.
«Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands: cities that are very environmentally conscious.»
Their time in Germany, among other things, has helped them understand the problems farmers face as a result of low profit margins and the smart solutions they've developed to tackle this problem. In the Netherlands they came across many initiatives by chance, like those developing products to fight cancer and osteoarthritis, factories making hemp insulation for construction, and research projects to eliminate heavy metals from water using bacteria.
However, travelling the world by bicycle or handbike also offers a wide range of options for the traveller: to discover the beauty of nature and the stories of the people. As a result, they have interviewed people along the way and taken loads of pictures and videos to let us be part of their journey. They've visited Lewarden, the next European Capital of Culture in 2018; and Groningen, European Cycling Capital, the hottest vehicle out there right now. Antxon was lucky there, finding quickly his Batec handbike among so many bicycles ;-)
«Belgium, France and the United Kingdom are their next destinations before they arrive in San Sebastian on 18 September.»
They've already ridden through Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands. Now they are in Belgium, riding between Antwerp and Brussels. Keep an eye out for them, more than one of our handbike users have already run into them ;-) They still have the second half of their route to go before they reach San Sebastian on 18 September, but they will continue documenting the stories they find to show us how important it is to preserve our environment, the main goal of this Route for Biodiversity: How to look after our homes.